A-Hunting We Will Go

For the Goodies episode, see Hunting Pink.

A-Hunting We Will Go is a British song written by Thomas Arne. It was written by Arne for the 1777 production of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera at Covent Garden. It was originally performed by Margaret Kennedy who was playing the role of MacHeath in the production. It later became a popular folk song and nursery rhyme.

The a- is an archaic intensifying prefix; compare Here We Come A-wassailing/Here We Come A-caroling and lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas (e.g., "Six geese a-laying").

See also

• A-Haunting We Will Go – title a play on this song
• Daddy's Gone A-Hunting – similar construction
• Farmer in the Dell - a very similar song in lyrics, content and music
• Omar Little - a character from HBO's The Wire, known for whistling A-Hunting We Will Go or The Farmer in the Dell as he approached victims he was stalking, adding to his mystique.

Bibliography

Boucé, Paul-Gabriel. Sexuality in Eighteenth-Century Britain. Manchester University Press, 1982.